The Dark Knight

Spoilers!

In the backpages of Lamplight Drivel you'll find more than one reference to 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT, the second chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  It knocked me out.  Redefined what a filmic superhero adaptation could be.  I mentioned it here and there but never devoted a full review.  Not sure why.  A few weeks ago I gave this an undivided attention re-watch.  Certain I would find numerous flaws and be disappointed.  Not be dazzled again.  

I read the comics, but my image of Batman was formed largely by the campy 1960s T.V. show and Saturday morning episodes of Super Friends.  When Tim Burton offered his takes in 1989 (BATMAN) and 1992 (BATMAN RETURNS), more of creator Bob Kane's original vision reached the screen.  Still campy though, with Jack Nicholson vamping it up as the Joker and Danny DeVito doing likewise as the Penguin. A few years later Joel Schumacher really embraced the cheese in BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN & ROBIN.  

Nolan revived the character in 2005 with BATMAN BEGINS.  More serious, darker.  And a mere warm-up for THE DARK KNIGHT, which Christopher co-wrote with his brother Jonathan.  The film is also much deeper and topical than any previous installment.  Some critics described it a superhero saga for the post 9/11 era.  This would displease those who prefer their caped crusader movies more lighthearted and optimistic.  You know, like many of the Marvel movies, which to me suffer terribly when compared to Nolan's film. 

This is Gotham as an unrelenting, hopeless den of corruption.  Lorded over by the mafia.  District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) tirelessly fights crime and apathy.  He's also dating Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) childhood friend/ex girlfriend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over for Katie Holmes in the previous film).  But even the goombahs are no match for the Joker (Heath Ledger), a misanthrope of the highest order, a sociopath whose no fucks given mantra is breathtaking.  A bona fide anarchist.  Always ready to prove that mankind is essentially selfish.  Ballsy enough to rob a mob bank.  But he cares nothing for money.

THE DARK KNIGHT will prove to be an epic battle between Batman and the Joker.  And the Joker and everyone else.  A villian on par with real life terrorists.  Batman will have to respond in kind and order surveillance of every cell phone in Gotham, a breach of privacy that alarms Wayne Enterprises' CEO, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who is enlisted for the task.  The Nolans' parallels to the mid aughts War on Terror are fairly obvious.  Several characters will suffer in the fallout, with a few irrevocable fates I found surprising.  This is not a timid movie.

It is also not perfect.  Troubling both for the questions it raises but also Nolan's penchant for overstatement.  Maybe a bit too much exposition. Things easily forgiven.  He stages a hell of a movie, with huge action setpieces, some of which were shot in IMAX (this will lose something in your home theater).  The Bruce Wayne/Batman mythos is satisfyingly mined.  The headiness of the screenplay considers legacy in ways to haunt you as the film closes.  The rather masochistic (co-dependent?) dynamic between the batman and his nemesis is given an intriguing examination, and Ledger, who passed away several months before THE DARK KNIGHT opened, gives a strong, often startling performance.  As confident as any I've witnessed.   

Matt Reeves has begun another franchise reboot that so far has been impressive.  But it's hard to imagine another Batman saga as all around excellent as THE DARK KNIGHT.